


ankle and petrol, the gruesome twosome

by ellipsesificate



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Mild Denial of Feelings, Mild Insecurity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-10-31 10:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10897479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellipsesificate/pseuds/ellipsesificate
Summary: Bulk is a firm proponent of the platonic soulmate model, in the least homoerotic sense possible.  He does not appreciate being told otherwise.





	ankle and petrol, the gruesome twosome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SweetPollyOliver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetPollyOliver/gifts).



At the beginning of class, Bulk had about twenty pieces of paper in his pocket that he and Skull had spent meticulously folding into triangles instead of doing their homework. Ten minutes till class ended, most of them were scattered on the floor, and Bulk’s aim had been getting worse and worse.

One projectile finally managed to land on Jason’s desk. Skull hissed in appreciation, even when Bulk shot him a warning frown.  Appleby hadn’t noticed, still scribbling whatever on the board - something Greek and boring. But Jason did notice, and turned around with a long-suffering glance as Bulk made a face back at him. He didn’t need to look over to know that Skull was matching him, leer for leer.

Luckily for the them, it was the last class on a Friday. Even goody-goods didn’t want to risk instigating a lecture so close to freedom, so Jason shook his head and turned back to his notes as Bulk set up the next projectile.

Out of the corner of his eye, Skull gave him a thumbs up. With that encouragement, he sent the paper flying, right into Tommy Oliver’s hair.

Skull gasped. While a few other students stirred, everyone was more or less used to weird noises coming from that corner of the classroom and ignored him, and Bulk could admire his work in peace.

The best part was that Tommy hadn’t noticed. It just sat there, tangled in the hair gathered around his shoulder. Right next to where the hair parted, where Bulk could see a chunk of Tommy’s mark. Unfortunately, it was too far away to read clearly, even if Bulk was curious.

Something tapped off Bulk’s wrist - a used projectile, one that hadn’t made it far enough to be out of Skull’s reach. Bulk glared, and Skull grinned around his gum with his eyebrows raised. Bulk didn’t need any more motivation than that to flick his last piece of paper at his face.  

Bullseye. It cracked Skull right in the middle of his forehead, and he let loose a startled peal of laughter on instinct. Everyone in the class turned around to look at them in exasperation - Appleby included.

“Eugene,” Appleby said. “Farkas,” she added when Bulk smirked, “care to explain to the class what’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Yeah, nothing,” Skull said quickly, and laughed again.

Apparently, not even the impending weekend could stop Appleby from being crabby. “Any more interruptions, and I’ll see the two of you in _separate_ detentions—”

The bell went off then, taking the wind out of Appleby’s threat. But Skull twitched, and in the flurry of everyone putting away their books and heading towards the door he brushed his fingers against Bulk’s wrist.

It was small, only enough for Bulk to notice, and then Skull spun off to blow a kiss at Kimberly, distracting her from picking the projectile out of Tommy’s hair. When she exaggerated a gagging sound in response, Bulk shoved Skull out of the room. “Stop dawdling, loser.”

Skull went, suddenly slack and silent under Bulk’s hand.

* * *

Entire libraries of literature devote themselves to the phenomenon of soulmates. From the poetry and philosophy of the Greeks, to the modern day’s increasingly tangled and frustrated debates. The nature of the soulmate, how and why they come about, the ethics and metaphysical quandaries, what specific qualities designate soul compatibility, what it says about society. Most kids sit through dozens of presentations on them growing up, in assemblies and school assignments where classmates just gush out some sappy story about their parents and grandparents or retreading tales of friendships that made legend. It all came back to how wonderful it must be to find your soulmate, your one true partner.

Bulk didn’t care about any of that dumb stuff.  As far as he was concerned, the only people obsessed with all of that are people who haven’t met their soulmates.

If they had someone like Skull constantly hanging over their shoulders, they’d know that soulmates were pretty cool, but not _that_ cool. To be fair, Bulk couldn't really remember what it was like before Skull - but that’s what a soulmate is. They’re just someone who’s there, half a step behind you and laughing directly in your ear.

Once you’ve got the soulmate, that’s it. They’re there, and that’s as nice as it gets.

Bulk’s mark was small on his wrist, easy to slip under a sleeve or the edge of a glove. Which was great, because kiddie marks tended to be embarrassing as hell, and he didn’t need to flash _Have a GRAPE day!_ every time he waved at someone. Skull’s mark was as dumb as his smile, curled around his hip where you could only find it if you searched for it. Lately, Bulk only saw it when Skull stretched, peeking between jacket and the waist of his pants.

Soulmates were not supposed to require any extra work or effort, which was completely fine by Bulk. That’s why he did not question it when sometimes Skull went through phases, where he’d be clingier than normal, impulsively grabbing at Bulk’s wrist even in the open. But if Bulk tried to reach out, suddenly Skull would shy away. Grinning and shifting his eyes and twisting his waist out of reach in a way supposed to be subtle.

And sometimes, in the halls or in class or at the Youth Center, Bulk might shove some random nerd out of their way, carelessly tossing out insults like “dweeb, loser, dork”. Skull’s corresponding laugh might be too tight, too high, in a way that Bulk could only recognize but not diagnose. And it was weird, how these phases came and went, but Bulk wasn’t going to dig too deep into whatever needled at Skull’s brain. He didn’t have to. They were soulmates. Things would be fine.

* * *

Things were fine, at least, until Kimberly Hart sat next to him in the Youth Center while Skull was in the bathroom. “Why don’t you get him to cut it out?”

“Who said you could talk to me,” Bulk said instinctively, except it cameout garbled around the fries Bulk was trying to finish off before Skull came back. They were technically Bulk’s fries anyways, because God knows Skull never kept any money on him. Kim wrinkled her nose as he swallowed them down and swiped at the crumbs on his chin.

“Gross.”

“I’m not the one interrupting a guy trying to enjoy a snack, _you’re_ gross.”

“ _Whatever_.” Looking around the Youth Center like she’s on some covert mission and doing a terrible job of not attracting attention, Kim leaned in slightly. The rest of her crew were doing about as good a job of pretending they weren’t eavesdropping from their table. “Listen, can you tell Skull to back off? He offered me a piece of gum.”

“And what’s so wrong with that?” Bulk asked, attention already drifting back to the fries. Whatever it was that Skull kept trying to instigate with Kimberly, Bulk had long decided to stay out of it. Outside of his duties as a fantastic bro, defending Skull’s honour and masculinity as needed, maybe trying to score a double date, Bulk could care less about Skull and Kimberly. It was the fact that she would approach him so boldly about it that made his wrist itch.

“It was already chewed.”

“Oh.” Bulk did spare her a smidge of sympathy at that. “He does that sometimes.”

Grimacing, Kimberly gave Bulk her most resigned look.  “Look, I know you can’t like this anymore than I do. He’ll actually listen to you if you tell him to cut it out, and we’ll both be happier—”

“Whoa whoa, back up.” Ignoring how his stomach twisted, Bulk threateningly jabbed a fry at her. “What do you mean, _we?_ I don’t care what Skull does. He can waste his time on you all he wants.”

Kimberly scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Everyone knows the two of you are – you know…”

“We’re _what?_ ”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “ _Soulmates_.”

Immediately, Bulk relaxed his shoulders. His stomach still hurt - maybe he scarfed down Skull’s fries too fast. “What, like it’s supposed to be a secret? I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

Funny enough, Kimberly’s gasp reminded him of Skull’s - a little bit affronted, a little bit excited. “Are you kidding me? You can’t just let your soulmate hit on someone else, why would you do that?”

“Ha!” Bulk waved his drooping fry at her condescendingly. “You’re one of those _romantics_ who thinks soulmates are all about getting married and crap, aren’t you?”

“No!” she snapped, although a guilty flicker of her eyes to the side gave her away. “I _don’t_ , I just thought you two _were!_ ”

The fry squished between his fingers.

“What?” Bulk said, except his voice was too high, so he had to cough and repeat himself. “ _What?_ ”

Kimberly hesitated, her typical confidence shaken. “I mean, you two obviously have a thing going on - like, the whole soulmate thing, but also...a kind of dating thing? Or at least, _want_ to be da—?”

“No, no no no no _no_.” He really couldn’t eat any more fries, not like this. Bulk shoved the half-empty plate away, resolutely avoiding Kimberly’s eyes.  “Me and Skull aren’t like that. We’re like…we’re like those Ankle and Petrol guys.”

“Ankle and Petrol guys?” Kimberly said blankly.

“Yeah, Ankle and Petrol from class. Those two ripped Greek dudes who were soulmates and super best friends and they fought crime and kicked ass together or something? We’re like that. Except for the fighting crime thing. Too dweeby.”

Understanding dawned on her face. “Do you mean Achilles and Patroclus?”

“Sure, whatever.”

“You haven’t done, like, any extra research on them before you decided to make that comparison, huh?”

“Why would I?”

She looked away quickly, but Bulk caught her tight grin. “It’s just - you know, maybe you can ask Billy about it, he’s knows more about than I do.”

And then she giggled, and an uneasy flare of anger made him sneer. “Why would I want anything like that with Skull’s dumb mug anyways?!”

Immediately, all amusement washed out of Kimberly’s face. “Hey, you can’t talk about him like that!”

“Why not?” He stood up, and was very suddenly and potently aware that everyone in the Youth Center was staring at them, and likely had been for the entire conversation. The sick feeling in his gut hardened and his wrist burned. “Who do you think you are, getting into other people’s personal business anyways?”

Kimberly was on her feet too, mouth set in a hard line. “Well, I’m sorry if I don’t like when he angles for _me_ when he's trying to avoid _you_ , and I’m especially sorry for thinking you should appreciate what you have a bit more!”

“What would you know anyways? Or does playing pretend with Tommy make you an expert?”

It was a long shot, and while Bulk felt bad when it struck true and Kimberly jerked back, he refused to show it.

“Hey, Bulky!”

Oblivious to the tension awoken in his absence, Skull stumbled out of the bathroom, scrambling back to Bulk’s side and clapping a hand to his shoulder.

“Some jerk cleaned off those drawings I’d made in the stall last week! You wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to find a marker to replace them—” His grin shifted over to Kimberly, still standing there red-faced and unsettled. “Hey, Kimberly!  Changed your mind ‘bout that date, eh?”

Roughly shaking Skull’s hand off his shoulder and ignoring his squawk of confusion, Bulk lurched towards the exit, needing to get as far away from the situation as possible. Unfortunately, Kim had gathered herself up enough for one last furious retaliation before he could escape.

“Achilles and Patroclus were _totally gay_ , just so you know!”

* * *

The way that Skull knocked on doors was about as recognizable as his laugh. Five rapid taps, a few seconds pause, and then he knocks again faster and louder until Bulk had to give up and let him in. This time, Bulk held out for a whole minute and a half before he had to relent and bark, “Just get in here, geez!”

Despite the desperate energy of Skull’s knocks, it took him forever to actually enter the room. First the door had to creak open, just enough for Skull to poke his head in to survey the battlefield. He relaxed upon seeing that Bulk was just lying in bed and scowling at his TV, but he edged his way in regardless.

“Hey,” Skull said, perching on the corner of the bed. His jaw worked briskly over a wad of gum, loud and nervous.

Bulk kept his eyes on the TV. “Hey.”

It was one of their favourite cartoons playing, and it would be really easy to avoid talking with it on. And that worked, for a little while. Skull had a limited attention span as it was, and colourful goofs and gags were enough to take up what he could afford. They watched quietly, only the sounds of the TV and Skull’s occasional giggle filling in the space between them.

But Bulk knew, really, that they couldn’t avoid talking forever. Skull eventually broke the silence. “You ate all my fries.”

“Not all of them.”

“All the crispy ones - you know I can’t stand soggy fries.”

“Sorry.”

A surprised glance rewarded the apology - probably because Bulk was not particularly generous with them, regrettably. For a moment, Skull considered him in silence. Suddenly, he threw himself fully onto the bed and wiggled in against Bulk’s side, the way he used to before they began high school and Bulk started shoving him away for it. Bulk froze, briefly uncomfortable with how Skull fit his elbows against his side, but he found himself adjusting to help Skull settle anyways.

“So,” Skull said once they were both situated, “weird question for ya.”

“All right.”

Skull had to take a moment, sucking on his gum between his teeth and staring hard at the TV before answering. “Do you think we’d still be friends if we weren’t soulmates?”

Bulk jerked up, accidentally knocking his forearm against the back of Skull’s head. “What?”

Rubbing his head, Skull shrugged and looked away. “I dunno, it’s just - if it wasn’t for the marks, you probably would have just beat me up, right? I don’t think you woulda hung out with me much after that, you woulda just thought I was, y’know. Some loser.”

“Don’t be dumb.” It wasn’t something Bulk wanted to think about, because he honestly could not remember what life was like before Skull. He had an arm around Skull’s side before he could think to deeply on it. “Listen, I mighta whacked you around a little bit, but you were just this weird little shrimp. Someone had to look out for you.”

Skull gave him a considering, sidelong look. Not that it ever took much to satisfy him, but Skull seemed to find whatever he was looking for and curled back against Bulk’s side.

“Anyways,” he said, now relaxed. “No one’s telling me why you and Kimberly were so pissed off earlier? Kim just kept sayin’ that I should talk to you and junk. And by sayin’ I mean she was yellin’. She was _very_ insistent. Soooooo...that’s what I’m doing.”

“I can see that,” Bulk said dryly. It was weird, Skull’s honest attempt to check on him, when normally they’d either just try to distract or avoid each other until the bad mood passed. Weird, but not necessarily bad. “She was just being nosy.  About us.”

“Nosy? About us?” Skull echoed, frowning in confusion.

“Yeah.” And the next bit came out almost unwillingly. “Okay, you know Ankle and Petrol?”

“Those Greek soulmate guys who fought crime? Lame.”

“Do you know if they were. You know. Gay?”

Skull sat up and blinked down at Bulk. “Dude. They were Greek. That’s, like, all they were.”

“Oh.” Now he had to avoid Kimberly for the entire rest of his life. “That’s. That’s great.”

“Is that…” Skull squirmed, his former anxiety tentatively returning. “Is that a problem?”

Hesitating, Bulk looked closely at Skull. Weird, loud, clingy Skull who barely left his side, who thought he could get away with shoving a grape popsicle down Farkas Bulkmeier’s shirt and did more than live to tell the tale. Who didn't even realise that he had grabbed Bulk’s wrist like a lifeline.

“Nah,” he finally said, grabbing at Skull’s hip where the shirt rode up and bodily tugging him back down. Even though he couldn’t feel the print of Skull’s mark beneath his fingertips, he could still trace it perfectly. _I’m gonna pound you, loser!_ \- kid marks really were the most embarrassing. “It isn't.”

“Cool.”

Apparently, Skull decided that was enough heart-to-heart for one day, because when a cartoon cat flailed out of a window he let out a shrill cackle and lay back fully, slack and happy. He threw one leg over Bulk’s, and Bulk kept his hand on his hip, still tracking the mark with lazy confidence. They had all the time in the world to figure whatever this was out.

“You know,” Skull said several episodes later, when the sun had begun to set and he should have been grumbling about going home. “Never too late to follow through.”

“Follow through with what?”

Grinning mischievously, Skull interlaced his fingers with Bulk’s at his hip, tapping the mark meaningfully. It took Bulk a second to get it, and when it clicked he wasn’t sure if he was laughing or choking on air.

“We’ll see about that, Skullovitch,” Bulk said, pulling him in just the tiniest bit closer. “We’ll see.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> there is a severe plot hole in this fic and that is that angel grove doesn't seem to teach anything beyond a third grade level, much less gay greek shit. it's fine cuz i don't actually know much about gay greek shit i just like to cheat.
> 
> anyways viva la bulk/skull broskis


End file.
